Challenge government over primary school 'transgender policy'

A church primary school in the UK has suggested that if a six-year-old child is unable to “believe a transgender person is actually a 'real' female or male" he could be guilty of “transphobic behaviour”.

The six-year-old in question is the son of Nigel and Sally Rowe who have reluctantly removed him from the Church of England school while they challenge the school’s ‘transgender policy’.

Nigel and Sally Rowe raised concerns with the school on the Isle of Wight when another boy in their six-year-old son's class started coming to school on some days dressed as girl.

The situation confused and upset their son. But the school defended its approach.

In a letter, the school implied that the Rowe's six-year-old could be guilty of "transphobic behaviour" if he was unable to "believe a transgender person is actually a 'real' female or male" or if he failed to refer to the other boy as 'she' if that is what 'she' wanted.

Given the school's response, Nigel and Sally have reluctantly decided to remove their son from the school, and to bring a legal challenge so that the policy can be scrutinised.

They are taking action to challenge "the aggressive new gender ideology that is being rolled out across the education system to the detriment of children's best interests," they explain.

The case has attracted widespread media attention in the UK. Nigel and Sally have experienced a lot of hostility, as they explain in these articles in the Mail and the Sun.

I was shocked to read about the experience of Nigel and Sally Rowe, and the behaviour of their church primary school.

I am amazed that the school implied that Nigel and Sally’s six-year-old would be guilty of "transphobic behaviour" if he was unable to "believe a transgender person is actually a 'real' female or male" or if he refused “to acknowledge a transgendered person's true gender e.g. by failing to use their adopted name or using gender inappropriate pronouns" .

Suggesting to children that gender is fluid is not compassionate.

Requiring children to act or speak in a way that suggests that gender is fluid, is an abuse of power and a denial of basic freedoms (e.g. freedom of thought, speech, religion and parenting).

The school has suggested that the Equality Act 2010 obliges it to act in the way that it has. This is not true. The Act refers to ‘gender reassignment’, which Parliament did not define in the Act and which therefore must be read in light of the Gender Recognition Act and case-law, the latter of which requires some progress to be made in the reassignment process for anti-discrimination legislation to be applicable. This clearly does not apply to a six-year-old child, whom the school did not even ask for evidence of gender confusion before taking the serious steps it did which affect the best interests of all the children in the school.

The school also quotes guidance suggesting that schools should "consider gender as a spectrum and take a non-binary approach to gender” and that “gender identity is often complex and there is a spectrum of gender which is wider than just male and female."

Please act now to challenge this gender ideology that is being imposed on unsuspecting children, parents and schools.

Please ask the school to reverse its current policy, and please ask Devon and Cornwall Police and East Sussex County Council to withdraw their misleading guidance immediately.

Sincerely,[Your Name]

Challenge government over primary school 'transgender policy'

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